Shopping For A Cause In Paris

A new concept store has opened in the Marais district,it's called MERCI, .It's a three-floor extravaganza with designer and vintage clothing, home furnishings, a used-book cafe and floral shop. Even better, some of the proceeds go to childrens charities. Since mostly all of the boutiques in the Marais district are open on Sundays, where as the rest of Paris is closed, this is a great spot for Sundays in Paris.

Paris - A Paradise for 13 - 19's - Parents Pay Attention!

Paris – secondhand and retro clothes shops - Rue du Roi de Sicile,

This intersecting triangle of streets in the heart of the Marais – the city’s original Jewish neighborhood – reveals all you’ll need to know about what is one of the hippest quarters in Paris. On rue des Rosiers you’ll find a multitude of Jewish epiceries, bakeries, falafel outposts and, among them, the avant-garde boutique L’Eclaireur (01 48 87 10 22), where adventurous and knowledgeable fashion types go for the great collection of brands, including Yohji and Maharishi. Next take a stroll along Roi du Sicile for edgy street duds or head to rue des Franc Bourgeois to discover a mix of well-known and boutique-name brands. Recognized as the heart of the city’s gay district, men’s fashion features highly. Once night descends grab a drink at The Lizard Lounge, just off rue du Roi de Sicile. The quarter’s maze of winding, cobbled streets is in stark contrast to the ultra-mod outfits of the area’s stalwarts. It’s a great, vibrant scene and one of the only areas of Paris open on Sundays.
Vintage Bar.
They will buy your coolest items too, and have a fantastically cool collection of vintage jewelery. There is a downstairs full of items too, don't miss that.
16 rue de la Verrerie
Frip'irium.
The owner of this place is a lively fun guy who went into a long description with me about why his shop was the best on the street. They apparently clean all items before selling them, only sell the nicest vintage items and apparel, and indeed had gone to great lengths to make a clean, organized, nice shop, with oils burning so that even your nose was happy to enter.
2 rue de la Verrerie
Mamz'Elle Swing.
The women working in this place is all decked out in 30s swing attire. It puts you in the mood as soon as you walk in, as does the swing music being played. A nice collection of 30s and 40s vintage items and clothing. Very cool.
35bis rue du roi de Sicile.
The King of Frip.
This place is a bit more disorganized than the other establishments mentioned, and seems to care a bit less about being choosy in what they sell. That said, there are some pretty good finds here, for great prices, if you dig. Don't miss the downstairs too.
33 rue du roi de Sicile.

Vintage Desir.
A cool place to get selected, collected, vintage shoes, clothes and accessories.
32 Rue des Rosiers
Chapellerie Simon.

This is one of my absolute favorite hat shops in all of Paris. They are filled to the roof with hats from all decades. Whether you want that sweet little 30s hat, or a stylish one for your man, or a summer wide-brimmed straw hat...this place has it all.

11 rue Ste Croix de la Bretonnerie

Noir Kennedy:
is a blacked-out dream destination in Le Marais for vintage hunters and rockabillies alike. Aged Converse shoes, choice selections of reconditioned baseball and Levi’s jackets and collections from new brands such as Cheap Monday line the walls and racks of this store. Far from being one of those junk-filled thrift stores overflowing with stretched XXL t-shirts and Mickey Mouse sweaters, the emphasis here is on wearable, quality vintage and the selection simply smacks of cool.The prices are cheap (for a Parisian clothes shop) and the oodles of favorable gems have been tastefully hoarded from vintage outlets far and wide with stock updated and added to regularly. Expect to bump into some of the skinny minnies of Paris’ indie scene as you hop in and out of the lovely old English telephone booths that function as the changing rooms whilst you fashion your new Pete Doherty look against the moody twang of the old school soundtrack.

12 and 22 rue Roi de Sicile 4th arr

The French Brasserie - A Love Affair

                   
Gallopin - founded in 1876 - located just behind the Paris Stock Exchange
Just one of my favorties - sit either in the main room or the brokers Lounge.

The French Brasserie:Where the pleasure of the eye is reunited with the pleasures of the table

.A gigantic platter of fruits de mer just outside the entrance door, Art Nouveau décor everywhere, the grand entrance of a diva and as Lyricist Ira Gershwin once wrote “Who Could Ask For Anything More”

Eating out in Paris can be the experience of a lifetime or the ultimate let down. Without an insider's tip for the best bistro or the latest hot restaurant, you could end up leaving the City of Light with a bad taste in your mouth. Fortunately there is the brasserie - one of the great culinary and social institutions of the French capital that has remained unchanged for well over 100 years. A meal in one of these cultural monuments - for they are more than mere restaurants - is always a memorable experience, because not only do you eat well at a reasonable price, but you'll experience at first hand an authentic slice of Parisian life.

These sumptuous dining rooms began life as simple beer taverns - 'brasserie' actually means 'brewery' in French - at the end of the nineteenth century when residents of Alsace fled to Paris as refugees after their region had been annexed by Germany. The good news is that the brasseries are here to stay as most have been classified monuments historiques by the French Government.
The great brasseries boast beautifully preserved Art Nouveau decor. Each one with its own personality and specialities. The dishes on the menu haven't changed much in the past 100 years either: a mountain of crushed ice covered with freshly shucked oysters and shellfish, a steaming tureen of choucroute , sauerkraut garnished with a dozen different sausages, an irresistible tarte tatin , and a chunk of the wonderfully pungent cheese from the village of Munster served with a hot potato and cumin seeds.
I spent the last couple of weeks eating (NO… over eating to be truthful) in the most famous and historic Brasseries of Paris. There are 49 of them in all. I only got to about 15. As one like myself, who feels at times I was born too late and would have preferred to be in Paris during the `1920’ and 30;’s, I can say, that entering one of these historic and 'drop dead' gorgeous Brasseries is returning to that era.
The brasseries of Paris are one of the few places you can still feel, see and smell the real Paris. 

Dining Outside in Paris - A New Choice

(outside garden dining)

In the sixteenth arrondissement of Paris, behind the discreet facade of the Marriott Renaissance Hotel ( don't let that bother you) hides another restaurant by Alain Ducasse -The Le Relais du Parc .
Once past the porch, unflods a magnificent garden courtyard with anglo-nomand charm. A little bit of  countryside in the heart of Paris. Great for lunch or dinner, if weather permits, if not,
the interior dining room offers a lovely alternative.
Menus of the day starting from:

Lunch menu - 33€ (entrée, main dish and desert) - Dinner menu – 43€ (entrée, main dish and desert)

                                                                      (Inside Dining)

The World’s Most Sinful Hotel Suite? In Paris, of Course!

It must be One by the Five, in Paris’s Latin Quarter. No detail is overlooked: champagne and berries to prepare your own love potion; a perfume-stocked dressing parlour; a dedicated salon for dancing; even a naughty bedside camera, so you can play back your horizontal salsa next morning. The main event, though, is the ethereal “floating” bed, which hovers cloud-like beneath a deep blue ceiling twinkling with stars.

Suite starts at  per night, Euro 760 ( based on 3 night stay)

A Romantic Apartment in Paris - The Truth

Paris Apartment rentals – The Truth
Renting an apartment in Paris or a Villa in France can be another exciting way to experience the French way of life and sometimes can be a more economical way to budget for a longer stay.
But I must caution you ‘wild-eyed, Romantics” out there -
A serious word of caution. The rental of apartments in Paris can be a delicate affair. In no other area of French property rentals is there so much potential for disappointment and misunderstanding.
The problem, I believe, lies in the gap between American travelers' romantic fantasies of a typical Paris apartment, and the unfortunate reality. When people think of Paris, they imagine a city which more than any other in the world epitomizes style, elegance and unfailing good taste in all things related to the decorative arts. This perception is actively fostered by Parisians and borne out in innumerable ways, from the way Parisian women dress to how galleries and antiquaires arrange their merchandise in store display windows. But alas, when it comes to apartments offered for rental, nothing could be further from the truth.
Having been in the business for over 40 years and I and my agent have inspected scores of apartments in Paris over the years, we have found many to be drab, dreary and not up to normal standards of cleanliness. Even if they are located in fine neighborhoods or are offered at exceptionally low rates, I do not offer such properties for rental. There are many rentals companies, but I only use two agents in France who specializes in rentals and whom I trust and have a good track record with. My apartment rentals are not cheap and I will not sell lower priced, sub standard apartments. My reputation and Protravel’s reputation depends on it. That said, my mission is to turn your fondest dream about renting a home/apartment in France into a living reality.